Al-Qaeda Targets Lethal Disease Research Facility on NY Island

Scary. Despite the outcry from the Left and the Muslims that the CIA has held onto this terrorist for years, and not admitted it or paid out the bounty on her head, it is great to find her. Just think of all the stuff she must know about who helped her hide for all these years. Who trained her? Who takes care of her? We have a lot to learn.


Pajamas Media » Al-Qaeda Targets Lethal Disease Research Facility on NY Island: "Until her arrest in Afghanistan this summer, Aafia Siddiqui was the FBI’s most wanted woman in the world. Now the U.S.-educated, Pakistani mother of three is being held in New York’s Metropolitan Detention Center facing attempted murder charges.

Aafia Siddiqui holds biology and neuroscience degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) and Brandeis University. In 2003, she vanished from Pakistan and reappeared on July 17, 2008, outside the governor’s compound in Ghazni, Afghanistan. According to the FBI indictment against her, Siddiqui was carrying “various documents, various chemicals, and a computer thumb drive.”

Aafia Siddiqui is believed to be an al-Qaeda operative. Among the documents in her possession were handwritten notes referring to a “mass-casualty attack” listing locations commonly known to be targets: Wall Street, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, and the Empire State Building. But one target, Plum Island, remains virtually unknown to the American public. If Siddiqui really is an al-Qaeda operative, the consideration that this government facility (officially known as the Plum Island Animal Disease Research Center) is a target is unnerving.

Located approximately eight miles off the coast of Connecticut, the 840-acre research facility is home to the most virulent zoonotic diseases in the world. The lethal diseases stored and studied on Plum Island are transmitted to humans by animals. The only U.S. strains of foot-and-mouth disease (eradicated from American soil in 1929) are secured in freezers on Plum Island, as are strains of polio, hog cholera, and African Swine Fever. None of the animals on the island ever leave; those that come uninvited, like deer that sometimes swim there from the mainland, are shot."

CDC Campaign Targets MRSA Infections

I am glad that the CDC is working on getting the word out so that the families might be able to see if they are infected.


CDC Campaign Targets MRSA Infections - Infectious Diseases: Causes, Types, Prevention, Treatment and Facts on MedicineNet.com: "A national campaign to teach parents how to protect kids from skin infections caused by dangerous methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria was launched this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

MRSA, a type of staph bacteria that's resistant to certain antibiotics, can cause severe infections in people in hospitals and other health care facilities. It can also cause skin infections in healthy people who haven't recently been hospitalized, the CDC said.

MRSA is spread through direct contact with an infection, sharing personal items such as towels or razors that have touched infected skin, or by touching surfaces contaminated by MRSA.

Parents need to teach children about the signs and symptoms of MRSA skin infections, which appear as a bump or infected area on the skin that may be red, swollen, painful, warm to the touch, or contain pus or other drainage. Fever may be another symptom.

The CDC said parents also need to help children keep their cuts and scrapes clean and covered with a bandage and encourage children to have good hand washing and general hygiene habits."

Illegal Alien Advocates Want to End Drunk Driving Enforcement

People sometimes ask me why I consider the borders and illegal aliens to be part of the security threat to the US. Here is your answer. Too many Mexicans are getting drunk in the US and driving around!

When illegals are caught, send them to a special Deportation Prison in Arizona. I think the local sheriff can give some pointers on how to run it. Can we put a bounty on the turning in of illegals? Or at least enforce some of the laws currently on the books?

The Jawa Report: Illegal Alien Advocates Want to End Drunk Driving Enforcement: "A campaign to stop enforcement of drunk driving laws has been launched by an Ethics Studies Professor at UC - Riverside.

Professor Armando Navarro is urging all citizens to forward a form letter to the Pomona City Council indicating that sobriety checkpoints are 'a grave threat to the stability of the local economy, and social harmony within the community.'

I contend that enforcement of drunk driving laws is a good thing. Readers can weigh in, for or against, by contacting the Pomona City Council which is considering the issue."

Classes Start in Texas School District Where Teachers Can Carry Guns

THe people who dislike this plan are afraid that the teachers are the ones who are going to go crazy and start shooting up the classrooms? Or they just hate guns and put their kids in private schools behind armed guards so that the peasants can't be seen.

This school district has gone to extremes to ensure the safety of its students. I am even willing to bet that none of the teachers are carrying a weapon because the standard is so high for being able to carry one. Not that the gun haters care. The only people who are allowed to carry guns on campus, in their twisted world, are highly visible so that snipers can see them, or criminal - because only criminals should have guns. Or something like that.

I am willing to bet that the local kids will be more than happy NOT to test the system by shooting wildly in class. Wait! These are teenagers and are, by definition, stupid enough to test the system. I hope that the kid who does dies a quick and painful death. A lonely death.

FOXNews.com - Classes Start in Texas School District Where Teachers Can Carry Guns - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News: "Thweatt said the board took extra precautions, such as requiring employees to use bullets that will minimize the risk of ricochet, similar to those used by air marshals on planes.

'I can lead them from a fire, tornado and toxic spill; we have plans in place for that. I cannot lead them from an active shooter,' Thweatt said. 'There are people who are going to think this is extreme, but it's easy to defend.'

Judy Priz, who has a third-grade daughter, said that 'everyone I've talked to thinks it's great.' She said she trusts the teachers with her child's life.

'Look how long it takes the police or anybody else to get here,' she told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for a story in its Monday online edition. 'If someone wants to come here and harm someone, at least we would have sort of defense.'

Gov. Rick Perry has said he supports the policy because 'there's a lot of incidents where that would have saved a number of lives.'

The Brady Center has spoken out against the plan, saying it may not comply with Texas law, which bans firearms at schools unless carriers have given written permission. If the school board authorizes an employee to carry a gun, then that person must be a peace offi"

Obama, Criminalizing Politics & Thinking The Unthinkable

The Wolf finds some facts about the Liberals and their communist tendencies. What a great job.

Wolf Howling: Obama, Criminalizing Politics & Thinking The Unthinkable: "Conservatives have for decades largely ceded the spheres of eductation and media to the far left. Today we see the bitter fruit of that situation.

There are many things deeply troubling about the far left in America. Their disdain for democracy and utter refusal to contenance dissenting speech are at the top of the list. But, now on the verge of actually taking control of the police power of the U.S. in the November elections, the far left are going beyond intolerance and into a realm of existential threat to America and democracy. It is the talk - from Obama through his potential advisors and numerous others - to criminalize policy differnces and dissent. This is a giant step beyond mere partisan politics in a competitive democracy."

Spook School?

Is this a school to train spies? I think that most corporations and Media groups would LOVE to have people with this training! This could be a lot of fun, can I get permission to attend? It might have to be a computer class, but I think that might be the point, anyway.

So, who do I have to talk to?

Spook School - News - The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper: When classes at the University of Washington resume this fall, some students at the school will be under the watchful eye of a Central Intelligence Agency spook. In fact, some of them will even be learning from him.

This fall, Dr. Tim Thomas, a CIA agent specializing in "open source" data mining, will begin a two-year stint as an officer-in-residence at the UW's Institute for National Security Education and Research (INSER), which is financed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. That office is an umbrella organization for groups such as the U.S. Marine Corps Intelligence Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the CIA—which will provide the university with $2.5 million in grant money over the next five years.

It's not unusual for political or military organizations to recruit on campuses, but it seems strange for the UW to align itself with an agency most recently in the news for overseas kidnappings and harsh interrogation tactics such as waterboarding.

INSER focuses on so-called "open source" intelligence—gathering information from publicly available documents, newspapers, TV shows, and blogs in other countries. Under Thomas's tutelage, students will learn the fine art of data mining and intelligence gathering, and discuss U.S. foreign policy and the strategic differences between the cold war and the war on terror.

"It's the kind of expertise we didn't particularly have here," says Bob Roseth, director of the Office of News and Information at UW. [Thomas has] been vetted very thoroughly. He's not just any CIA agent."

While INSER focuses more on information retrieval and intelligence gathering than espionage, the UW has kept the program fairly quiet. INSER has been around since January 2007, but faculty members—including UW spokesman Norm Arkans—were unable to provide many details about the program. What's more, students don't appear to be aware that intelligence agencies are present on campus.When classes at the University of Washington resume this fall, some students at the school will be under the watchful eye of a Central Intelligence Agency spook. In fact, some of them will even be learning from him.

This fall, Dr. Tim Thomas, a CIA agent specializing in "open source" data mining, will begin a two-year stint as an officer-in-residence at the UW's Institute for National Security Education and Research (INSER), which is financed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. That office is an umbrella organization for groups such as the U.S. Marine Corps Intelligence Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the CIA—which will provide the university with $2.5 million in grant money over the next five years.

It's not unusual for political or military organizations to recruit on campuses, but it seems strange for the UW to align itself with an agency most recently in the news for overseas kidnappings and harsh interrogation tactics such as waterboarding.

INSER focuses on so-called "open source" intelligence—gathering information from publicly available documents, newspapers, TV shows, and blogs in other countries. Under Thomas's tutelage, students will learn the fine art of data mining and intelligence gathering, and discuss U.S. foreign policy and the strategic differences between the cold war and the war on terror.

"It's the kind of expertise we didn't particularly have here," says Bob Roseth, director of the Office of News and Information at UW. [Thomas has] been vetted very thoroughly. He's not just any CIA agent."

While INSER focuses more on information retrieval and intelligence gathering than espionage, the UW has kept the program fairly quiet. INSER has been around since January 2007, but faculty members—including UW spokesman Norm Arkans—were unable to provide many details about the program. What's more, students don't appear to be aware that intelligence agencies are present on campus."

Asymmetric warfare: A research agenda looking at epistemological based or not

Personally, I thought that FM-3-24 was designed to give us the terminology that was missing. I kind of agree with the author about the lack of good terms, but it is still evolving and changing as the Military learns to handle the curves thrown at it by the terrorists. And the Liberals.

Asymmetric warfare: A research agenda looking at epistemological based or not: "I know that the FM-3-24 discusses these in detail, but where is the agreed upon breadth of research to back up the assertions of the discipline. The military likes to embody concepts and ideas into people. So, and so, was the father of this or that. Great, and big thinkers are important. Einstein though was writing in response to a problem the physics world had at the time. He was trying to answer his disciplines big questions.

I am not here to solve all the problems that the advancement of COIN and Asymmetric warfare practices would necessitate for the rigor of science. In one part I am simply the observer, but in the other part I am deeply interested in the results. In my research the complex issues of national treaties and boundaries overlay the issues of a world wide telecommunications infrastructure. This begets the problem that all computer network attacks are going to be asymmetric in nature and many of the principles of counter insurgency are going to be required.

The fourth and fifth generation warfare communities could claim that they have accomplished at least some of the tasks of starting a science. Some soldiers will say that military science covers the needed terrain of thought well enough. I think though that counter insurgency is at odds with the hammer of science and axe of the arts. Somewhere in between the differing worlds consensus can be found. I think of the military activity as an applied science or closer to my skill set as a technologist. Likely indigestion or my own ego inflating my specialty as a technologists."

A third of Muslim students back killings

This is a very strong of Muslims who would rather force Sharia into the British Legal System. I know that a few of the students probably lied and "admitted" to being full of hate for the country they live in, just to throw off the research. Right?

At the end of the article, you will find a bunch of protestations by Muslims and Liberals who call this study biased by Right Wing politics. Well, the Left should know how to bias a report, since they do it regularly in most news reports.

I am going to take this study with a grain of salt, as I always do. Still, I think it also has a lot of truth to it since it confirms what I have seen in my life. Also, YouGov tends to be very unbiased as far as I have seen.

I still fear for England. I will pray for you. I will pray that you will finally start forcing these people to either adjust to life in the country they have moved to, or go back to the country and lifestyle they seem to prefer. Tell them to go home if they don't like England!

A third of Muslim students back killings - Times Online: "ALMOST a third of British Muslim students believe killing in the name of Islam can be justified, according to a poll.

The study also found that two in five Muslims at university support the incorporation of Islamic sharia codes into British law.

The YouGov poll for the Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC) will raise concerns about the extent of campus radicalism. “Significant numbers appear to hold beliefs which contravene democratic values,” said Han-nah Stuart, one of the report’s authors. “These results are deeply embarrassing for those who have said there is no extremism in British universities.”

The report was criticised by the country’s largest Muslim student body, Fosis, but Anthony Glees, professor of security and intelligence studies at Buckingham University, said: “The finding that a large number of students think it is okay to kill in the name of religion is alarming.

“There is a wide cultural divide between Muslim and nonMuslim students. The solution is to stop talking about celebrating diversity and focus on integration and assimilation.”

The researchers found that 55% of nonMuslim students thought Islam was incompatible with democracy. Nearly one in 10 had “little respect” for Muslims. "

Irony: Evil Inflation Causing Ohio Women to Starve

This is just too funny! NPR and the Left Media (is there another kind? ) are worried about these poor women who can't find a job since they have never worked and could not even get through high school. Now, their welfare checks aren't keeping up with inflation and they might have to eat less. And lose a hundred pounds or so. Poor girls.

Rusty's take on it is wonderful! Enjoy!

The Jawa Report: Irony: Evil Inflation Causing Ohio Women to Starve: "Though probably not any time soon. Via NPR

A generation ago, the livelihood of Gloria Nunez's family was built on cars.

Her father worked...

And apparently he was the last to do so.

Nunez's van broke down last fall. Now, her 19-year-old daughter has no reliable transportation out of their subsidized housing complex in Fostoria, 40 miles south of Toledo, to look for a job.

I bet the van wanted to die!

Nunez, 40, has never worked and has no high school degree...

...Even if she could, she says it's particularly hard to imagine how she'll keep it. She says she needs someone to give her a lift just to get to an interview. And with gas prices so high, she's not sure she could afford to pay someone to drive her to work every day."

Toddlers who dislike spicy food racist, say report

The Left is getting so paranoid about everything that they even suspect toddlers. Can we just send all these morons to their own island someplace?

Toddlers who dislike spicy food racist, say report - Telegraph: "The National Children's Bureau, which receives £12 million a year, mainly from Government funded organisations, has issued guidance to play leaders and nursery teachers advising them to be alert for racist incidents among youngsters in their care.

This could include a child of as young as three who says 'yuk' in response to being served unfamiliar foreign food.

The guidance by the NCB is designed to draw attention to potentially-racist attitudes in youngsters from a young age.
Article continues
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It alerts playgroup leaders that even babies can not be ignored in the drive to root out prejudice as they can 'recognise different people in their lives'.

The 366-page guide for staff in charge of pre-school children, called Young Children and Racial Justice, warns: 'Racist incidents among children in early years settings tend to be around name-calling, casual thoughtless comments and peer group relationships.'

It advises nursery teachers to be on the alert for childish abuse such as: 'blackie', 'Pakis', 'those people' or 'they smell'."

Illegal immigrants face threat of no college

Waaaaaa! Cry me a river, on your way back over the Rio.

Save the tax dollars for the tax payers! Worse is the stupid idea of in-state tuition for people who are not even citizens of the country! Who came up with this moronic notion in the first place?

Illegal immigrants face threat of no college - USATODAY.com: "Some states are making it harder for illegal immigrants to attend college by denying in-state tuition benefits or banning undocumented students.

In the past two years, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia and Oklahoma have refused in-state tuition benefits to students who entered the USA illegally with their parents but grew up and went to school in the state. That represents a reversal from earlier this decade, when 10 states passed laws allowing in-state rates for such students.

This summer, South Carolina became the first state to bar undocumented students from all public colleges and universities.

North Carolina's community colleges in May ordered its 58 campuses to stop enrolling undocumented students after the state attorney general said admitting them may violate federal law.

'The new trend is to kick illegal aliens out of college altogether,' says William Gheen of Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee, which opposes taxpayer subsidies for undocumented immigrants."

Boys punished with detention for refusing to pray to Allah

No longer allowed to worship, or even mention Christ, yet bowing to Allah is becoming mandatory? Liberals are getting ever more moronic in their War on Civilization.

Boys punished with detention for refusing to pray to Allah: "Two seventh-grade boys were given detention and their classmates forced to miss their scheduled refreshment break when the pair refused to kneel and pray to Allah during a religious studies class.

Outraged parents called the punishment of the boys for not wanting to take part in the practical demonstration at Alsager High School near Stoke-on-Trent, UK, of how Muslims' worship Allah a breach of their human rights.

'This isn't right, it's taking things too far,' parent Sharon Luinen told the London Daily Mail.

'I understand that they have to learn about other religions. I can live with that, but it is taking it a step too far to be punished because they wouldn't join in Muslim prayer. Making them pray to Allah, who isn't who they worship, is wrong and what got me is that they were told they were being disrespectful.

'I don't want this to look as if I have a problem with the school because I am generally very happy with it.'"

Commies Employ Teenage Mind Wipe

The Left moved into the shelter of the Campus in all Western countries, and their allies. I am, unfortunately, not shocked to read this article. I doubt you will be either. Can you see the parallels between the Korean education system and the US one?

Information Warfare: Commies Employ Teenage Mind Wipe: "The South Korea government is beginning to realize why there is such a vigorous anti-U.S., pro-North Korea movement in a country that was devastated by a North Korean invasion 58 years ago. The reason is that most (OK, 51 percent) of South Korean teenagers know little about the Korean War (1950-53). After all, this was their grand-parents, or great-grand-parents war. The reason for the ignorance is the education system, dominated by leftists who have, over the decades, played down the unprovoked and savage North Korean invasion in 1950.

The South Korean Communist Party was outlawed in 1946, by the American occupation forces, for using violence to try and gain control of South Korea. But the South Korean Communists went underground, and some remained after North Korean forces were driven out in late 1950. After the war, North Korea sent agents and money south to keep leftist organizations going. Suppressing the bad memories of the Korean war (the North Koreans were exceptionally brutal, ask any South Korean over 70) was a typical communist Information War ploy, and it has paid big dividends by creating a generation of teenagers who can be convinced that the Korean War was all the fault of the United States (who had withdrawn its troops just before the North Koreans invaded, and that was not a coincidence.) After the Cold War ended, the Russian archives were opened a bit and it was revealed that the Soviets had convinced the North Koreans that the Americans would not defend South Korea. When that didn't work out, the Russians talked the Chinese to come in and keep the UN forces from taking control of North Korea. That operation cost the Chinese half a million dead, and a grudge against the Russians that led to decades of bad feelings. But the South Korean educational system has managed to purge most of this from the curriculum, or downplay the teaching of it in the classroom.

The Big Lie technique not only lives, it thrives, and you can see it happening in South Korea. "

Wolf Howling

This is a great look at the differences of Wahhabism vs the other Muslim sects. It is also a good look at how the State Dept. is working to help the Wahhabis to corrupt the West.

Wolf Howling: "It is difficult to imagine a more backwards, repressive and violent culture than that of Arabia - a land conquered by the House of Saud with incredible slaughter for the purpose of imposing their Dark Ages interpretation of the Koran - Wahhabism. As Bernard Lewis has described it, think of the most virulent cell of the KKK supported by all of the oil wealth of Texas. Thus if you are surprised by today's news that the Saudi's are teaching children their undiluted doctrine of racism, xenephobia, violence and Wahhabi triumphalism at a Saudi run school in Virginia, then you haven't been paying attention.

The school at issue in Northern Virginia is unique in the U.S. It is a school run by the Saudi government. It uses the same Saudi text books as are used in schools in Saudi Arabia and in the madrassas they fund around the world with their vast oil wealth.

What should also not be surprising is the news that our State Dept. is covering-up for the Saudis. It is not surprising, but heads should roll for it."

Status of terrorism experts questioned

I know that I am not a great expert, but I know that I know more than at least a quarter of the "experts" who end up in the news. After reading this article I now know why. By reading the sites that I have linked in my sidebar, it is easy to figure out a lot more than the Media can figure out since they have heads inserted rectally. Yes, I mean you on MSNBC!

Read this full article and get an understanding about why the Media keeps getting it all wrong.

Status of terrorism experts questioned | higher news | EducationGuardian.co.uk: "...Since 9/11, research into terrorism has grown prolifically. According to the social science citation index, there were barely more than 100 articles relating to terrorism published in 2001; that figure had almost trebled by the following year and has carried on rising ever since, with more than 2,300 citations recorded last year.

So far, so pretty much what one might expect. After all, universities aren't immune to outside imperatives. Yet there is a new, more disturbing trend emerging within this field of the terrorist specialist as expert witness in terror trials....

...Not necessarily, Schmid maintains. 'While it is important to think about the relationship between academics and the counter-terrorism agencies, it is also important to think about the relationship between journalistic news values and terrorism. As long as 'good news is bad news' and 'if it bleeds, it leads' are top journalistic news values, those who produce violence for effect will always be able to receive ample coverage from the media. Terrorism is 1% bang and 99% publicity, as someone once put it. Terrorists depend on publicity, and on journalists and editors who provide that for them. That is a bigger problem than some academic experts testifying in court. I have never done so, but would not exclude it if I regard it as my duty as citizen.'"

Tough Mother: A Vagina Monologue You'd Rather Not See

Oh Lordy! The Cubists have found a new topic to attack.

Groupthink :: View topic - Tough Mother: A Vagina Monologue You'd Rather Not See: "Aliza Shvarts, activist art student at Yale, claims she repeatedly inseminated herself with sperm freshly collected from campus masturbators, then induced miscarriages and stored the resulting blood with fertilized eggs in order to smear it over the surface of a large suspended cube at a student art show. Why? As a rule of thumb, if someone goes all screwy and it's not the result of mental illness, it must be a progressive activist scoring one for The Children™ and the Greater Good™. And that is the story of little Ms. Shvarts.

She wanted to prove that all body parts are interchangeable and 'can have other purposes' - an idea she may have conceived in her class on post-modern philosophy or at the college performance of The Vagina Monologues, which is practically the same thing."

College Official Fired for Column on Homosexuality -- 05/12/2008

I see that academia still values Freedom of Speech. I bet if this lady had been Muslim she would still have a job.

College Official Fired for Column on Homosexuality -- 05/12/2008: "Cybercast News Service has learned that a University of Toledo administrator has lost her job because she wrote a newspaper commentary that questioned whether homosexuality is a civil rights issue.

Crystal Dixon, the associate vice president of human resources at the state university, had earlier been put on paid administrative leave for the Apr. 18 column published in the Toledo Free Press, as detailed in a previous CNSNews.com story.

'She has been fired,' said Brian Rooney, spokesman for the Thomas More Law Center, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based legal-defense group which is representing Dixon."

Fairfax Cop Who Tipped Terror Suspect Helped Kill Training Program

What a piece if trash. Sounds like it is time to kick his stupid butt and put him in a cell with some friendly Muslims.

Family Security Matters » Publications » Fairfax Cop Who Tipped Terror Suspect Helped Kill Training Program: "A Fairfax County Police sergeant who admits tipping off a terrorism suspect that he was under FBI surveillance also helped kill what had been a successful intelligence and terrorism-related training program within his police department.

Sgt. Weiss Rasool was sentenced to two years probation on April 22nd after pleading guilty to illegally accessing a police database to run license tag numbers for a friend who thought he was being followed. Those tags traced back to FBI agents who had Rasool's acquaintance under surveillance as part of a terrorism investigation.

The Washington Post reported that Rasool cried during his sentencing and apologized for what he called 'errors of judgment. But I never intended to put anybody's life at risk.' The Post further reported:"

Muslim chases service animal out of school

What a crock of pig dookie! When you read the article, it has links to two news articles that should be read.

If this was a Christian student threatening the dog, the student(s) would be expelled. Why are Muslim students getting a pass?

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Dhimmi watch: Muslim chases service animal out of school: "A student teacher who uses a service dog for his epilepsy has had to leave his position early after a Muslim student harassed the animal, and worse. Tyler Hurd needs the dog for his protection and for emergency supplies for first-aid responders, but apparently Technical High School in St Cloud believes that Hurd’s needs are secondary to providing a dog-free zone for its Muslim students. Hurd says he feels threatened by the action, as well he should — because the student threatened to kill the dog:"

Skills for Men - Things Men Should Be Able to Do - Esquire

This is a bit of fun for the day.

Skills for Men - Things Men Should Be Able to Do - Esquire: "10. Buy a suit.

Avoid bargains. Know your likes, your dislikes, and what you need it for (work, funerals, court). Squeeze the fabric -- if it bounces back with little or no sign of wrinkling, that means it's good, sturdy material. And tug the buttons gently. If they feel loose or wobbly, that means they're probably coming off sooner rather than later. The jacket's shoulder pads are supposed to square with your shoulders; if they droop off or leave dents in the cloth, the jacket's too big. The jacket sleeves should never meet the wrist any lower than the base of the thumb -- if they do, ask to go down a size. Always get fitted.

11. Swim three different strokes. Doggie paddle doesn't count.

12. Show respect without being a suck-up. Respect the following, in this order: age, experience, record, reputation. Don't mention any of it.

13. Throw a punch. Close enough, but not too close. Swing with your shoulders, not your arm. Long punches rarely land squarely. So forget the roundhouse. You don't have a haymaker. Follow through; don't pop and pull back. The length you give the punch should come in the form of extension after the point of contact. Just remember, the bones in your hand are small and easy to break. You're better off striking hard with the heel of your palm. Or you could"